


And Yet It Was Not

by flippednique



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Confusing Fic, Dimension Jumping, M/M, OOC, Really Confusing, Scientist Haizaki, idek, time traveling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-27
Updated: 2015-09-27
Packaged: 2018-04-23 16:05:48
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,806
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4883140
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flippednique/pseuds/flippednique
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which everything is confusing.</p><p>And yet it is not. </p><p>IDEK.</p>
            </blockquote>





	And Yet It Was Not

Time.

Time is a measure in which events can be ordered from the past through the present and into the future.

Time

Time is the measure of durations of events and the intervals between them.

Time.

The laboratory is a sad little place. For all the advanced equipment inside it, they were barely paid any mind. The man of the area who knew every  
single machine down to the last screw and bolt was huddled in a corner, fingers shaking as he fiddled with the many probes and wires. He moved with  
an efficiency that showed practice. His hair was longer than normal and tangled, his labcoat dirty with grease and oil. He didn't notice. No one noticed.

What he cared about was his project.

This wasn't the first time he'd gotten this close to being finished.

_"Do you have any regrets?"_

The clock makes an awfully loud ticking sound.

_"Do you wish you could do things differently?"_

The wrench he's using falls to the ground with a loud clang and he curses nothing in particular. He's running on a schedule here. He can't afford to make  
mistakes.

_"Do you think it's possible to rewrite history?"_

The clock continues to tick.

_"Do you want it enough to make it happen?"_

Time doesn't give a damn about what you want.

* * *

_The cameras come with bright lights that blind the young scientist but he smiles all the same, teeth a pearly white from behind coral colored lips._

_He was quite handsome, anybody would be lucky to have him as their husband. The host seems to think so, and the cheers from the audience makes it clear_   
_that they think so too._

_Their guest laughs, and confesses that he's not married and from the looks of things won't be any time soon._

_"Why is that?" the host questions._

_"I love my work too much."_

_"Well we all know that!" the host chuckles good-naturedly. She leans forward, chin in her palm. "But was there every anyone? A high school sweetheart? An_   
_unrequited love?"_

_He pauses, thinks about it. "There was actually."_

_The host blinks not expecting that answer._

_The audience goes ballistic._

* * *

_" **That's Ryouta! He sings, acts, and models."**_

**_"I heard he got an offer to model for Kaijo!"_ **

**_"I hope the fame doesn't get to him."_ **

**_"I don't think it will. I mean, he's always been this pretty but he's never been obnoxious or rude."_ **

The boy in question is aware of their conversation, but all he does is pretend he doesn't hear them. He focuses instead on his lunch partner whose eyes are  
glued to his notes, pen flying through the pages. He scratches something out, writes something in, scratches something out again and the process continues.

Ryouta swallows his mouthful of food and clicks his tongue.

Shougo raises his head with a questioning brow.

"Why don't you just use a pencil?"

"I might need that calculation later."

"Then _don't_ cross it out."

"But it's not the calculation I need _now._ "

Ryouta stares at his best friend and shakes his head. "I'll never understand you and your science."

Shougo stops writing and taps his pen against his notebook. "I don't understand you and your aesthetics but you don't hear me complaining."

A lovely rogue colors Ryouta's cheeks. "Eat your sandwich."

Shougo smirks but he does as he's told.

* * *

_"We were best friends. We lived across from each other all our lives."_

_The audience are whispering to one another excitedly. This was information no one had ever been told._

_The host nods with a huge smile on her face. "I think we're all dying to know, Who fell in love with who?"_

_The guest blinks, mulls over thinks, let's out a deep breath then says, "I did."_

_The audience gasps in delight._

_The host's grin widens. "And how old were you?"_

_The guest shakes his head, smile sad on his lips. "Seventeen."_

* * *

The door to his car swings open and in stumbles a blond unsteady on his feet. Shougo's grip on the steering wheel tightens. "Hello."

There was utmost silence and he waited for an apology, an explanation, something- Ryouta laughs and collapses against the passenger seat. "H-Hi!"

Shougo shakes his head and turns the car off. "Are you drunk?"

"Barely. Okay, maybe a little."

"Who was it?"

"Aominechii."

"How was it?"

"Perfect. Brilliant. Amazing." Ryouta's voice catches. "It was everything I fucking hoped it would be."

Shougo waits.

Ryouta breaks. "H-He called me T-Tetsu."

Shougo unbuckles his seat belt and adjusts his seat. He lets his best friend clamber into his lap. He lets him cry.

" **Why** do you keep letting him hurt you?" Shougo asks when Ryouta's sobs are nothing but hitching breaths.

Ryouta presses his face against Shougo's neck. "I l-love him."

"Love makes you stupid." Shougo grumbles. They stay there until the sun rises. And when Shougo comes home at three in the morning and he gets a glare from his big brother who had yet again covered for him, he can't quite help but agree.

Love _does_ make you stupid.

* * *

_"This was an unrequited love?" The host asks, reaching for a tissue though she wasn't really crying._

_The guest laughs. "Somewhat. It's actually really a long story."_

_"We don't really mind." The host waves a hand then an arm towards the audience. "We have time right?"_

_The audience cheers an affirmative because this was not a live filming._

_The guest sighs._

_Time._

* * *

"You **can't** keep doing this to yourself!" Shougo can't stand it.

Ryouta's glaring at him. "Will you lay off? I'm nineteen years old! I can do what I want to!"

"You have the hormonal body of a nineteen year old alright but the mind of a toddler! Ryouta don't throw your life away for an asshole who's just using you!"

Ryouta sqwuaks in protest. "You don't even know him!"

"I hear enough about him from you to know he's not good enough." Shougo snaps. "He said someone else's name when you had sex!"

"That was one time!"

"Stop defending him!"

"He's my boyfriend!"

Shougo is caught of guard.

Ryouta blinks and he realizes what he's just said.

Shougo waits for him to take it back, his heart pounding hard in his chest.

Ryouta's cheeks are red.

He doesn't take it back, doesn't say it's a mistake.

Shougo's heart breaks into pieces.

* * *

 

_"Wait, this Ryouta..." The host's eyes are wide. "You mentioned he was talented."_

_The guest nods._

_"Well, I know a Ryouta in the industry and he's married to a Japanese basketball player."_

_The guest chuckles._

_The host's eyes go wider. "Is he...?"_

_"Yes. He's now Aomine Ryouta."_

_"So was this love really unrequited?"_

_The audience murmurs sadly._

_The guest echoes it with a heavy sigh._

_"... No. We got together but..."_

* * *

It was a mistake. A drunken mistake.

Ryouta's staring at him with tear-filled eyes. "I'm pregnant."

Shougo's head is heavy, buzzing. He remembers alcohol. He remembers Ryouta crying. He remembers a bed. His bed. And Ryouta was in it. And this time it hadn't been a dream.

"This wasn't supposed to happen."

"But it did."

"You're with Aomine."

"We were broken up at the time."

"That makes it any better?" Shougo snaps. "You're together again now aren't you?"

Ryouta bites his lip nervously and nods.

Shougo grits his teeth. "Christ this wasn't supposed to happen!"

"And you think I wanted this to happen?" Ryouta asks.

"We could have prevented this." Shougo grips his hair in his hands. "If I just kept control of my damn hormones."

Ryouta gapes at him incredelously.

Shogou doesn't see it until he gets smacked on the arm.

"Did you think that night for me was purely physical?"

Shougo blinks.

Ryouta rages. "Do you think emotions are what? Something I can just turn on and off? That feelings come with a manual?"

Shougo turns away.

Ryouta reaches for him. "Shougo... Shougo I've _always_ known."

Shougo's breath hitches.

Ryouta continues. "And... And I've always felt the same way for you."

Shougo looks at him and he feels tears prickling the back of his eyelids. "The world hates me."

Ryouta blinks. Then Ryouta laughs. "Not what I was expecting."

He laughs some more.

Shougo doesn't. He turns away from Ryouta. "The world. **_fucking_**. hates me."

Ryouta sobers ever so slight. "Shou...?"

Shougo punches a wall. "All my life all I've ever wanted was to be recognized by you. To have you look at me the same way you look at your precious Aominechii who treats you like dirt.

But I told myself that that would never happen. You're so enamored with the bastard that you hardly spare anybody else any of your time."

Ryouta opens his mouth to defend himself.

Shougo doesn't let him. "And now... now that I'm finally getting somewhere with my life, you finally turn to me and tell me you love me. That you feel the same way that I do. And now, now _we have a chance to be together_."

Ryouta blinks, surprised, and a startled laugh comes out from his lips. "I'm sorry I made you wait so long."

Shougo lets out a slightly hysterical chuckle. "Fuck this."

Ryouta's eyes widen. "Shou-..."

"You can't do this to me Ryouta. You can't tie me down here. Not now. I just got my degree. I'm moving to another country. I am not a man who's ready to settle."

Ryouta's eyebrows pull together. "I'm not asking you to! I know how important your career is to you!"

"But you want to have this kid. You want him in your life."

"I want him in _our_ lives Shougo! He's as much your kid as he is mine!"

"I have too much to lose."

"I'm not asking you to fucking marry me!" Ryouta snaps his patience completely gone.

"Then **_what are_** you asking?!"

"Nothing. Just. Just send us fucking post cards or something. Have fun in America."

Ryouta leaves.

Shougo lets him.

* * *

 

_"You let him go?" The host gapes. "Why?"_

_The guest laughs but without humor. "Stupid of me. I know."_

_"But... weren't you getting what you wanted? He was ready to start a family with you."_

_"I don't quite see it that way."_

_The audience are on the edges of their seat._

_"At the time, he was looking for a way out of his relationship with Aomine. He slept with me because he was confused and he didn't know what to do. It was_   
_an act of desperation and I gave into it. Then he finds out he's pregnant. Boom. I'm the most wonderful person on the planet."_

_The guest shakes his head._

_"Just because I gave him an easy way out. It was his only way out."_

_A moment of silence._

_The host gains her wits. "What happens next?"_

_The guest lifts his head. "You can guess. I'm sitting here and he's married to Aomine Daiki."_

_"And the child?"_

_"Healthy and happy."_

* * *

 

Shougo stares outside his window, heart heavy in his hands.

The calendar on the wall said it was September 23.

"I'm pregnant. I want him in our lives."

His kid was a year old now.

Shougo closes his eyes and not for the first time lets his mind wander.

**_Of chubby arms and tiny toes._ ** **_Of pink lips and a red nose._ ** **_Of blond tuffs or maybe silver._ ** **_Of amber eyes that shine and glimmer._ ** **_Of a shrill laugh he'll never get to hear._ ** **_Of words he would have whispered in that tiny ear._ ** **_Of a child that has his and Ryouta's face._ ** **_Of a baby who would relish in their warm embrace._ **

Shougo lets out a shuddering breath and glances at his work table.

He scraps his latest project and draws his notebook nearby.

* * *

_"What were you working on?" The host asks._

_"Well, at the time I wasn't so sure." The guest shakes his head. "I was slightly emotional and I wasn't really thinking of anything concrete."_

_The audience waits for him to continue._

_"... Until now, I'm not sure what it was exactly that I'd been building."_

* * *

Time.

Time is a measure in which events can be ordered from the past through the present and into the future.

Time

Time is the measure of durations of events and the intervals between them.

Time.

He had done it this time.

He had... He had actually...

He pressed a few buttons.

He flipped the switch.

* * *

He finds himself in an unfamiliar place. It was bright. He squinted at the light.

"Finally!"

He turns his head and blinks at the strange silver colored eyes. The girl is young, probably ten. "Who are you?"

The girl tilts her head. "Don't you know?"

He shakes his head. She shakes her head too.

He changes his question. "Where am I?"

She giggles, voice like wind chimes. "I think the right question is..."

She trails off.

He picks up after. "... _ **when** **am I?"**_

* * *

_"Do you mean you actually made a time machine?" The host asks him. "It actually worked?!"_

_The guest shakes his head. "It's a bit foggy actually. The most I could tell you is what I remember."_

_The audience cheers him on._

_They want to hear what happens._

_The guest obliges._

* * *

She dusts herself when she stands, her yellow sundress blowing in the wind. He follows her lead, suddenly aware of how dirty and ratty he was. She gives him a look. He feels a warm blush on his cheeks.

"You should take better care of yourself."

He shrugs it off. She extends her hand. He stares. She stares back. He blinks. She glares.

"Well?"

He takes her hand and the world seems to be pulled from beneath his feet. The scenery's changed and he finds himself in front of a french-styled window. He blinks.  She grips his hand tighter. Beyond the window is a family of four. There is no mother, but two fathers and two younger boys with dark blue hair.

"This is..."

Her grip tightens even more. A lump forms in his throat. He struggles to swallow it. Ryouta's flipping pancakes and listening to one of the boys, his son, talking a mile a minute. Daiki is looking at something the other boy is showing him from a sketchbook. They look like a family.They look perfect. They look...

"Happy." He chokes on the word and it leaves a bitter taste in his mouth.

She tugs on his hand. "Isn't that what you've always wanted for him?"

He looks at her. She stares back up at him, earnest.

He nods. "Yeah."

Her tight grip returns. The falling sensation comes with it. They land in front of the same french-styled window. And beyond it is a scene that makes his heart beat faster.

Ryouta is flipping pancakes. Shougo is sitting on the table with papers in front of him. He feels the grip on his hand loosen completely. She smiles at him then walks through the window. He watches her. She takes a seat on the table. Ryouta hums cheerfully as he puts the pancakes in plates. "Good morning Umichii."

Shougo looks up from his project. "Morning Umi."

She smiles at both of them. But says nothing. He watches them settle in for breakfast but they all say nothing. His heart grows heavy. There's no warmth. There's no life. There's tension. He watches as Umi picks up her bag. He waves goodbye when she boards a bus. He glares at Shogou when he continues with his project. He stares at Ryouta when he walks out the door. Then he gapes when the blond comes back inside. He isn't alone.

He wants to shout.

Ryouta leads whoever it was into the house. Into a room. Into his heart. He feels his head ache. He stumbles past the french-styled window. Into the dining room-slash-kitchen where Shougo still fiddles with his project. He glares at Shougo.

Glares at himself.

"I went through time. Through different realities. To try and see if I'd made the right decision."

Shougo tightens a screw.

"I hoped beyond hope that I'd made a mistake when I'd let Ryouta go."

Shougo scratches something in his notes.

"But you fucking rubbed it in my face that I did do the right thing."

He slams a fist on the table.

Shougo looks up.

He startles.

Shougo smiles bitterly at him.

"And now you know you did the right thing."

Shougo points his project at him.

He flinches.

"You devoted your life to a machine that would make you see reality." Shougo looks at him with teary eyes. "And I made a machine that'll make you forget it."

He shakes his head.

"No. I don't want to forget. I want to remember that I made the right choice. That letting him go gives him a good life."

Shougo's tears fall. "Can you live with that?"

He shakes his head again.

Shougo chuckles softly and steadies his hand. "Don't worry. I''ll leave the good things."

* * *

 

_The audience is quiet._ _The host is at a loss for words._ _The guest waits patiently._

_"How..." The host gathers her wits. "How do you remember? I thought... you'd said it would only be the good things."_

_"He... I... Uhh, He did only leave me the good things."_ _The guest smiles wistfully._ _"But with the good things always comes the bad."_

_The guest turns to somewhere off camera and motions his hand._ _The audience cries in shock and surprise._ _A little girl that could only be eight walks into the set, her silver hair blending in with her yellow sundress._ _She smiles shyly at them and settles on the seat beside the guest._ _He runs his hand over her hair, smoothing it out._

_"Is that?" The host splutters._

_The guest smiles. "Yes, this is Haizaki Umi. She's her father's daughter, science-lover."_

_Umi smiles and offers a small wave._

_The host gives her an almost shaky smile. in return. "Umi... Can... Can you tell me about yourself?"_

_"I can't say much."_

_The audience laughs._ _The host appreciates her good charisma._ _"Well what can you tell us sweetie?"_

_She looks at their guest with raised eyebrows._ _He mirrors the look._ _She turns back to the host._ _"Well... the man beside me is my father. He and I have been together for a number of years and yet not. We used the obliviator and yet we didn't."_

_The host laughs. "_ _That's very confusing."_

_Umi nods her head._ _"Yes it is. And at the same time it's not."_

_The audience laughs again._ _Their guest joins in._

_Umi clicks her tongue._ _"Science is always confusing. It takes a lot of time to understand it."_

_The host nods._ _"Time."_

_Their guest chuckles._ _"Something we no longer have."_

_The audience cries in surprise._ _The host nods along._ _"Oh? But there's so much we don't understand."_

_Umi chuckles._ _"Isn't that half the fun? The mystery?!"_

_Their guest chuckles._ _"Yes. And Umi and I have a prior engagement."_

_The host laughs and nods her head._ _"She truly is her father's daughter."_

_The audience agrees._ _The host sighs._ _"But we understand. Thank you so much for being here."_

_Their guest smiles._ _"Thank you for having me."_

_The host faces the camera._ _"Ladies and gentlemen, Hazaiki Shougo."_

_The camera turns off._

_But before that, a flash of light._

* * *

He's back in the laboratory. There's a new project on the drawing board. He's been working on it for weeks now. But he's not getting anywhere. A knock on the door makes him turn in his swivel chair. Silver eyes peak from behind a curtain of silver hair.

"Dinner's ready Daddy." Umi peers at him with a soft glare in her eyes. "You better come up here."

He chuckles and nods his head. "Give me a second to wrap this up."

Her gaze narrows. "One minute or I'll get Shinku to get you."

He offers a sincere smile. She mirrors it and leaves him be.

Shougo looks behind him at the display case in his laboratory. In it were two creations he had built. And yet in a way he hadn't. The time machine. The obliviator.

His memory is foggy. He doesn't remember everything. He sighs and leaves his laboratory. Upstairs the house is warm and lively. He sits on his seat in the dining table. He watches Umi place a dish full of vegetables down. He smiles at Shinku who's gnawing at his toothed. He relaxes when hands massage the tense muscles in his shoulders.

"You've finally emerged from your cave."

Shougo clicks his tongue. "Couldn't miss your Friday night dinners."

"You better not!" Ryouta smiles. 

Shougo watches the blond settle into a seat beside him. He places a hand on his round belly. "You're far along now."

Ryouta nods."Yeah... he's a kicker."

Shougo smirks. "Like his father?"

"Daikichii kicked you one time!" Ryouta glares.

Shougo rolls his eyes. "Doesn't change the fact that he did."

Ryouta sticks his tongue out at him.

"Body of a thirty year old and yet the mind of a teenager." Shougo laughs. 

Ryouta hits his arm softly but laughs. "No teenager would be mature enough to have this kind of civil relationship Shougo."

Someone from the kitchen grunts. Shougo watches as Daiki enters the dining room with a plateful of chicken. "He has a point you know. This is really mature of us."

Ryouta glances at Shougo. "Mature. Not a word I'd use with you."

"Whatever you say." Shougo rolls his eyes.

Ryouta gives a thoughtful hum. "Where were you guys today? Was it that interview?"

Shougo nods. "Yeah but you don't really have to watch it."

Daiki plates chicken. "Why not?"

"It was a boring interview." Shougo shrugs his shoulders.

Ryouta chuckles. "You and your science shit."

Shougo rolls his eyes and dinner starts finally. He glances out the french-styled windows. 

"Me and my science shit."

* * *

_The host scans through the half-finished episode with a satisfied smile._ _She would personally edit the interview._ _Their ratings would no doubt soar through the roof!_ _Her PA knocks on her office door and slides an envelope on her table._ _She thanks him and opens it._

_Something shiny falls out but she pays it no mind._ _Her eyes scan the blocky letters on stiff notebook paper._

**_When Shougo was talking about obliviating someone and leaving only the good memories. He wasn't talking about me._ _He was talking about Ryouta._ _Ryouta doesn't remember walking away from me._ _And I'd like to keep it that way._ **

_The host puts the paper down._ _She remembers the shiny thing that fell._ _She picks it up and turns it in her fingers._ _It pulses with a flash of light._ _Her mind goes blank for a second._ _The second is over and she goes back to editing the video._

_When the interview airs the people who had been in the audience and had witnessed it live are confused._

_Bits and pieces were missing._

_And yet... they were not._

 


End file.
